Castles and Cavaliers and Cannons, Oh My!

Two days ago the OPUS (Oxford Program for Undergraduate Studies, the study abroad program at Oxford) students took a field trip to Broughton Manor and to Warwick Castle and so I've created a bit of a slide show with some interesting commentary. I'm focusing mainly on Broughton Manor, since, as our Program Director Deepak said, it is more charming and less touristy, although Warwick is more historically significant. I will include some of the less commercialized photos from Warwick though.

The outer lawn of Broughton Manor. If I recall correctly, this was used in one of the scenes in Shakespeare in Love.

The Great Hall of the Manor. Apparently this is part of the original building and served as the living area and bedroom for most of the hangers-on of the Lord and Lady.

The wood paneling in the main dining room. It's hand done to resemble folded cloth and was really quite impressive. Before it was put up, the room, attached to the great hall, was originally the stores for the manor. It's located right below the bedroom of the Lord so that he could keep an eye on his stores in winter.

Queen Anne's Bedroom. Early in the reign of James I, him and his wife, Queen Anne of Denmark were touring Britain to acquaint themselves with the nobility and stayed at Broughton Manor for one night. This is the room that she stayed in. Apparently at that time, the nobility only slept inthe same bed as their spouses if they were seeking to be intimate. Makes the prospect of coitus a bit public for my tastes, but to each his own. It's ironic for me to criticize the practices, since it was probably a holdover from Roman times and I am a Latinist, but there you have it. As an aside, none of the furniture is original: in the 1800's, the Saye family had a member (pictured to the right) who was quite a spendthrift and who sold off all the Manor's furnishings. It was only at the beginning of the 20th century that the family was wealthy enough to refurnish it with different antiques. So unfortunately, while the room pictured is the one where Queen Anne slept, that is not the bed on which she slept, nor the sheets, etc.

This, meanwhile, is the bedroom in which King James I slept. Those of you who think that the columns and statuary are either far too old or too new to have been there in James' time are correct - if I recall from the tour, it was put in in the late 1700's or early 1800's and depicts dryads dancing around an oak tree.

What I found most amazing of all is the fact that the bed, which is extremely new in it's styling actually goes quite well with the sculpture and the green sylvan wall paper; very airy and pleasing to the eye. It's one of the few modern stylistic choices I've seen which I actually like.

This is the charter for Broughton Manor, signed and sealed by Henry VIII. Off screen to the right is another royal document which I neglected to photo, a pardon from King Charles II to the Saye family for having been involved in the parliamentary side of the English Civil War which saw the beheading of his predecessor, King Charles I. Speaking of the English Civil War:

A portrait of Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell never visited Broughton Manor, but the Manor was the location of many meetings by Parliamentary forces in the years leading up the the war, and later on the subject of a battle which the royalists won - hence the cannon balls pictured below, which were dragged out of the moat a few years ago. There's also the even-further-below picture of Cromwell: I took this photo not so much because of Cromwell, but because of the figure seated next to him - his Latin secretary, who would translate his

dispatches to foreign rulers into Latin. This saved the expense of having a translator for every language in Christendom - it was far easier for everyone to have a Latin translator who was also fluent in the local language. By the way, the identity of Cromwell's Latin translator? A certain John Milton. Yes, the John Milton.


After visiting the room in which the Parliamentary forces met, we stepped out through a door onto the roof. It's telling that they have no qualms about leaving the doors open - I'm not joking when I say that the temperature inside is actually colder than it is outside.

The British countryside, as viewed from the parapet of the Manor. The animals in the distance are sheep. One of the sights that really makes me appreciate rural England.

The gardens on the estate. I took this shortly before we left. As you can probably tell, they were simply gorgeous. If it weren't for the cold, I could see myself enjoying quite a lot of time there.

And just for laughs, here's me with a many-centuries old spear. When I saw people messing around with them, I just knew I had to do what I could to strike the pose of a Greek Hoplite. Okay, so my Hoplon is technically a backpack, but I improvised with what I had on hand, and you know that I was more than ready to drive those pesky Persians out of Hellas.

Guy's tower, as viewed from the exterior of the castle. This proved to be one of the more impressive features of the Castle, with a height which allowed it easily to view the entirety of the city of Warwick.

The next few images are all taken from the top of Guy's Tower:



Anyone interested in seeing the rest of the photos can check out the facebook album.